Russia Wins Sixth Straight Game in World Championship Hockey Play

Russia has now won six straight games and is currently leading Group B of the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championship tournament, after shutting out Switzerland 3-0 on Sunday in Bratislava, Slovakia.

According to the IIHF’s standings, Russia is the overall points leader and has allowed the least number of goals, three, of any team in the tournament to date. Finland leads Group A and is second to Russia in overall points with 17.

Swiss forward Sven Andrighetto said of Russia’s squad, “They’re definitely a highly skilled team. They work hard, they play really fast. It’s not easy to play against them.”

(Image Source: Wikicommons)

Russia’s scoring barrage is led by Nikita Kucherov (pictured above), who had two goals in the win over Switzerland. Kucherov, who plays professionally in America for the NHL’s Tampa Bay Lightning, led the 2019 NHL regular season in scoring with 128 points.

The success of the Russian hockey team on this year’s World stage also comes with a fresh round of speculations meant to downplay its performance, SouthFront reports:

In particular, after the game with the Czech team, Czech mainstream media claimed that the Russian team drunk about 160 glasses of beer during a dinner at an Asian Iasai restaurant in Bratislava. Most of the reports were designed in a way attempting to demonstrate “non-professional” behaviour of the hockey players. The Russian side denounced these reports.

This is not the first time, when the Russian team becomes a target of media over its performance. During the last World Hockey Championship, mainstream media claimed that the Russian team ordered vodka and caviar for 26 million rubles (about 401,000 USD).

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, recently did his part in helping to elevate his country’s hockey success by skating in the “VIII All-Russian Night Hockey League Festival” in Sochi on Friday, May 10.

Putin led his side to a 14-7 win in the exhibition match, reportedly “scoring a record 10 of the goals,” according to the Kremlin. Watch:

Russia will face-off versus Sweden in its last round-robin game on Tuesday, which could decide first place in IIHF Group B play.

READ MORE RUSSIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Russia Files

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